Susan Gallon

Susan, 36, was born and raised in France. As an adventurous marine biologist she carried out a PhD in Scotland on the foraging ecology of grey seals before studying southern elephant seals from the Antarctic Peninsula in Tasmania. She has since been continuously involved in collaborative work with groups in Australia, Brazil,Scotland and France working in the field to tag elephant seals.

As a marine biologist she is acutely aware of the current struggles with climate change and that the Arctic has warmed more than any other region on Earth. Susan wants to be part of the expedition not only for the personal challenge but to contribute in raising awareness of this wild and fragile part of the world.

'Doing this with the diverse cultural voice of the team and with the unique angle offered by the expedition will carry this message much further that a purely scientific mission could,' she says. 'The most important part of sharing this experience, for me, is to make children more curious, to make them bigger dreamers, to expand their horizons and to embed, at an early age, a vision of empowered, adventurous women.'